Home Computer Privacy essays

Home Computer Privacy essays Some say that the world is a dangerous place. When it comes to computers, thats not necessarily true. With every new virus or hacked web page on the Internet, there will be a new way to fight back and secure privacy. Some people are also concerned about large companies and government invading privacy although there really is no need for great concern. Home computers are relatively safe from Big Brother. Cookies are small files planted on Internet users computers by web pages to track their web browsing habits (Slover C8). They allow companies to send users targeted ads that correspond with the information about them in their databases. Almost anything users fill out on the Internet will be linked to their computer with a cookie. But critics say that hackers have a slim chance of reading your cookies. Another possible threat on the Internet is data brokers. Data brokers are people who collect information about others and sell it to anyone with a few dollars claiming to be a landlord or private investigator (Eckhouse 91). They get their information from phone directories; birth, marriage, divorce, death, property tax and drivers license records; credit bureaus; and other assorted databases. Internet users also need to be careful when they fill out surveys and forms on the Internet. They are all over websites. This information often gets sold to large companies and data brokers. It is looking like there will be many changes in privacy in the near future. The National Security Agency wants to put a chip in every telephone and modem allowing them to remotely spy on the public (Jackson 33). They hope for telephone and modem manufactures to design their products so that only infected telephones and modems can communicate with other infected telephones and modems thus forcing the public to by their products. They also want to do this wi ...